Nerroth
26 Feb 2009, 12:02 AM
Hi.
I'm writing this from the hotel I'm staying at here in Montreal, after what prior to the game had been quite an odd day...
...until I made it in time to witness a moment in Canadian soccer history.
I'm from Ireland originally, so I haven't got the long experience with the way the game has been in Northern America that many of you would have - though coming from a place where club soccer is a game that has all of its talked about matches played in someone else's country, I'm somewhat used to the idea of seeing a domestic team, or league, struggle in the face of more popular foreign competition.
But I have to say, I can't think of any game, in any professional sport, which I have been to that was as exciting for me as this one was - and certainly none which carried the same sense that I was watching something historic take place.
From the outset, the crowd was incredible. You could feel the, erm, impact from the moment you got to the grounds, and which made one hell of a sight to see on a crisp night in a Montreal February when the game itself got underway.
And the tension! Every half-chance at either end, every hard-fought interception, every surge of anticipation at a corner or free kick... it literally kept me on the edge of my seat.
Yet, I had this strange feeling, which of course was helped when each goal went in, but was tugging away at me throughout - the sense that this was going to happen.
That the momentum built up by the arrival of so many fans at the big O - something that seemed to scream at me that this was a real moment of arrival for the Impact (indeed, for Canadian club soccer as a whole) - was enough in and of itself to propel events n the direction they took.
Although, it was balanced by a nagging feeling that it could all get jinxed somehow... but thankfully, that was not the case!
I think it's a damned shame neither CBC or SRC broadcast that game live, however. Of all of the matches they could have decided not to shuffle off to the cable channel and leave on tape delay, this was the one.
Although, if it turns out that Montreal have built up enough of a lead to let them ride out the return leg and make it to the semis, I really hope both networks pull their heads out of their asses/derrieres and get that game shown live, as it out to be!
However, for the time being, I want to thank those who, both on the pitch and in the stands, helped make this the best sporting event of my life...
...and to those who may just get a chance to do it all again net month, I hope you have as much of a blast as I did!
I'm writing this from the hotel I'm staying at here in Montreal, after what prior to the game had been quite an odd day...
...until I made it in time to witness a moment in Canadian soccer history.
I'm from Ireland originally, so I haven't got the long experience with the way the game has been in Northern America that many of you would have - though coming from a place where club soccer is a game that has all of its talked about matches played in someone else's country, I'm somewhat used to the idea of seeing a domestic team, or league, struggle in the face of more popular foreign competition.
But I have to say, I can't think of any game, in any professional sport, which I have been to that was as exciting for me as this one was - and certainly none which carried the same sense that I was watching something historic take place.
From the outset, the crowd was incredible. You could feel the, erm, impact from the moment you got to the grounds, and which made one hell of a sight to see on a crisp night in a Montreal February when the game itself got underway.
And the tension! Every half-chance at either end, every hard-fought interception, every surge of anticipation at a corner or free kick... it literally kept me on the edge of my seat.
Yet, I had this strange feeling, which of course was helped when each goal went in, but was tugging away at me throughout - the sense that this was going to happen.
That the momentum built up by the arrival of so many fans at the big O - something that seemed to scream at me that this was a real moment of arrival for the Impact (indeed, for Canadian club soccer as a whole) - was enough in and of itself to propel events n the direction they took.
Although, it was balanced by a nagging feeling that it could all get jinxed somehow... but thankfully, that was not the case!
I think it's a damned shame neither CBC or SRC broadcast that game live, however. Of all of the matches they could have decided not to shuffle off to the cable channel and leave on tape delay, this was the one.
Although, if it turns out that Montreal have built up enough of a lead to let them ride out the return leg and make it to the semis, I really hope both networks pull their heads out of their asses/derrieres and get that game shown live, as it out to be!
However, for the time being, I want to thank those who, both on the pitch and in the stands, helped make this the best sporting event of my life...
...and to those who may just get a chance to do it all again net month, I hope you have as much of a blast as I did!